Journey No 47

About Journey No 47

The slightly rectangular canvas is divided sharply in two: the upper half is painted in a rich navy blue highlighted with light blue strips; the lower is a narrative dominated by a collaged horizontal plinth of red-orange beneath which is sealed a braid of sweet grass. Beneath the plinth, numbers 1 through 10 read right to left ending at five taches in primary colours plus black and white. Sweet grass is used by some Indigenous cultures in prayer, smudging or ceremonies. This painting may alude to the use of this sacred plant on the journey of change in life.

Rick Rivet is Metis born in Aklavik, Northwest Territories. His family lived by trapping, hunting and fishing. Rivet completed his MFA at the U. of Saskatchewan in 1989 and began painting full time. His influences are varied and derive from shamanistic imagery of people the world over including North American Indigenous, Inuit, Australian Aborigine, Norse, Oceanic, Siberian. Rivet has been the recipient of over twenty awards, scholarships and bursaries, including a Fellowship from the Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, and the Andy Warhol Foundation Fellowship Residency Program for the heard Museum in Phoenix. His work is in private, corporate and public collections in Canada and the US.